Shedfield and Droxford were once in the Bishops Waltham Hundred and as early as 1337 Shedfield was recorded in a Court Roll which added the Tithing of Shedfield to Droxford.Shedfield parish contains Shedfield village, Shirrell Heath and Waltham Chase.

The main occupations were agriculture and horticulture, with fruit growing and brick making also. A lot of the buildings in Shedfield date from the 19th century but a few are older.  The church of St John the Baptist was build in 1875 and replaced a much earlier structure though the tower still remains.

Shedfield was original called Eilert Ekwall and relates to Seida falda which is Anglo Saxon for a plank of wood that has been split thin. It is thought that this may relate to a footbridge that was once here. This name evolved to Schidefeld and then Shidfield but by the twentieth century it became known as Shedfield.  Shedfield Lodge stood at Old Shedfield Lane near to the Botley Road.

St John the Baptist, Shedfield

Most of the village was spread along the Botley Road, between Sandy Lane and St Ann's Lane, and Shedfield house which was originally a farmhouse was built in the 17th century and bounded by Sandy Lane on one side. A village green and a pond surrounded by cottages were also here.

The school was founded by James George Crabb in 1832 after he had retired from the East India Naval Service and he had been presented with Shedfield Lodge on his wedding.  Two years later plans were drawn up to build a mixed school and the land was donated by Crabb's wife.

The Crabb name changed to Boucher when James George became a beneficiary in a will in 1837 and it was Elizabeth his daughter that founded the cottage hospital at Hill House in Shirrell Heath and later a new hospital was planned. The money to by the land was donated by Frederick Townsend who lived in Shedfield Lodge, and in 1875 this became Hospital Road.

The village school, Shedfield

HISTORY OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH